NO-HEADLINE

Homeless people are caught in poverty after being put in privately rented houses and then being unable to afford to work. Seven out of 10 tenants were unable to take work without being worse off according to a survey by the charity Shelter. The report Not An Answer - Private Renting for Homeless Households says that because of the higher rents in the private sector, tenants who found work often faced severe disincentives due to the combination of income tax, national insurance contributions and benefits withdrawal.

The charity is calling for an adequate supply of long-term affordable housing and says that if the Housing Bill, which removes councils' responsibility to provide permanent accommodation, passes through the Lords unchanged the situation for homeless families will worsen.